Thursday, July 19, 2012

The second half of our two part series "Traditional & Tactile" takes us to the North Loop of Minneapolis. We were greeted by a penguin graphic logo and a handshake from Paul our contact as we entered Cold Side Silkscreen Printing. Paul led us into his office where we discussed his involvement in the business and walked us through the silkscreen process we were about to witness.

Descending an ancient wooden staircase, our feet landed in the basement where the screens were ready and waiting for further inspection and preparation before making the first test run. Shimmering and translucent the screens floated by as they made their way upstairs for the operator to begin the process. He taped off the sides and locked them down into position on one of several octopus-like arms jutting out from the center core. With the screen in place, and palette knife loaded with thick titanium white ink, the first part of the t-shirt making process was ready to begin with the inking of the JCP badge logo.

An earlier conversation with graphic designer Jason Braun led to re-purposing the JCP badge logo and a few other existing graphic elements to devise an original t-shirt. What better way to complement our first traditional & tactile letterpress experience with that of a custom silk-screened t-shirt bearing the logo and graphic elements of the JCP brand.

Cold Side has been in business since the mid seventies. The environment has a laid back vibe which is a welcome nod to the era in which they began. They always seem like they are up to something interesting and can accommodate just about any silk screen request for custom t-shirts.

We'll be on the road next week, hitting the streets of San Francisco for Target. The project is motion based and will have us running multiple cameras: chasing bikers, runners and walkers as well as dropping in on a staged soccer game and outdoor yoga session amid a backdrop of the Golden Gate Bridge. It'll no doubt be a fun hustle and another interesting collaboration.